While in Warsaw on Friday, Saakashvili asserted that Ukraine was witnessing a roll-back of reforms and efforts to stem corruption, reiterating that he wanted to get back into politics. It was revoked in July by the Ukrainian president, reportedly on the grounds that Saakashvili failed to mention there was a criminal case against him in Georgia.

Ukraine's State Border Guard Service saidSaakashvili illegally crossed the border as he and his supporters did not pass security checks. It left him effectively stateless as he previously lost his Georgian citizenship because of the country's rules about dual nationality.

Saakashvili is also wanted in his homeland for alleged abuse of power during a tumultuous nine years as president that saw him fight and lose a brief war with Russian Federation in 2008.

He claims he only wants to defend his rights and did "not want to overthrow President Poroshenko", AFP says. Reports differ regarding how Saakashvili entered the country.

Ukrainian police restrain supporters of former Georgian presidentMikhail Saakashvili (poster on the ground) at the Ukraine-Poland border who see the charismatic leader as someone who could fight corruption. Saakashvili and President Petro Poroshenko too, but the cost they will pay for yesterday's circus will be much lower than what the country will have to pay. "There are children here, there are ordinary Ukrainian citizens who want to get home".

Video footage showing chaotic scenes of Mr Saakashvili's supporters overpowering border guards went viral, with pro-Western lawmaker Svitlana Zalishchuk labelling it a "circus". "A crime was committed instead", he said. I do believe that many in the presidential administration had simply hoped that Saakashvili wouldn't strike back. The statement reads that the violators face from 5 to 8 years in prison.

"They swept us up and carried us into Ukraine", Saakashvili said, according to BBC.